The hopes that bound Saber were the entirety of a life she had continued to achieve herself. She was the only who knew the value, the preciousness of those feelings. And so, as long as she did not desire it, as long as she could not save herself, she could not grasp that hand.

Master and Servant had been the same. They valued a precious wish more than anything else. A way of life where their hands had always to be stained with blood. Because they wanted to save someone they crushed another’s hopes; they were on the same path.

“…Father, Saber…”

Archer understood the weight of those desires and the strength of those feelings so well it pained him. That was why he knew that just words and feelings would change nothing.

He recalled the distant days of happiness inside himself. The people he had loved had called his way of life abnormal. How much sadness had been mixed into those words?

That pain returned to him now, in front of precious people who could not change. The very existence of Archer here seemed to tell of the what they would experience after this, and it pained him.

You could not save everything. That was the one conclusion he had reached at the end of his long journey. Even acknowledging that, before the great wall he had confronted, he felt utterly powerless.

He scraped his teeth together and though. What should I do? What can I do- to change them? The path he had walked, and the darkness of the results he obtained clouded his vision. And then.

“Archer…”

“Archer-san…”

Perhaps worried looking at the motionless Archer, Sakura and Rin called out to him. Archer turned his head, and looked at his two masters. Young eyes stared at Archer. Those eyes, their existence, spoke.

There was something he could do- for sure.

“…Honestly… I’m no match for you. You two always save me.”

Pivoting around, Archer turned again to the swordswoman and her master. He scolded himself for trying to defeat the results he had obtained.

“You’re… An idiot, Emiya. How could you give up? How could you throw it all away? Even if you were dropped to the bottom of hell… What would have saved you? The result? The Holy Grail? No.”

He had been saved by his kind masters. He had been saved by their feelings for him. He had been saved… By the smiling faces he had protected, at the end of his path.

Were words really powerless? Were feelings nothing at all?

Could people reflect on those deeds only after the fact? Could an outstretched hand only seized something after it had fallen into Hell? Were people really such fools?

“…That might be so.”

No matter how clumsy it may be. Even if he was scorned an equivalent amount. If he didn’t do everything he could to help another, whose hand could he grasp?

Archer turned his head, and looked straight at the Master and Servant on the verge of despair.

“I… I have no intention of handing over this wish to anyone.”

“…Huh?”

“Yes, I have despaired. I suffered so much I could only move on by clinging to miracles.”

“……”

“…Heh. But, what was at the end of the miracle… Was not the fulfillment of my dream, but me continuing to betray it. Instead of saving people, it was my figure, killing and killing. …That’s why I prayed once. For a chance to erase myself.”

“—!” “……”

“But, that doesn’t matter anymore. I finally was able to realize it.”

As he spoke, the two sets of eyes, blue and gray, stared at him. People more precious to him than any others. People he had wanted to save more than anyone else.

“My wish can keep coming true. I can keep protecting my vow. As long as I don’t throw this dream away.”

“…What?”

Saber glared in irritation. The ground her teeth together, and spat out her words as if to abuse the knight in front of her.

“You, what do you…!”

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“I don’t understand at all. I’m not you. The things you carried are yours alone. You’re the one who has to bear them. They can’t be borne by anyone else. They belong to you.”

“…Ah.”

Crimes, and punishment. No one could force that on her. To say nothing of miracles… They could never been forced on a person. She knew that. She should have know that.

But even so, it was painful. She detested it. Losing something beautiful was too painful. She had wanted it. She had desired it.

The path she walked down, oblivion, the precious wish in her heart, release.

What had she hoped for? The beautiful dream she had wanted? The beautiful conclusion she had desired? What had she gone to seek?

“…You believed that something was precious. There’s was something you wanted to protect. You lived for that reason, and you kept running down that road. The people you saved, the smiles you protected. The value of all the lives along the way.”

“Do you grieve because they were all a mistake?”

“—Ah-”

The azure eyes went wide. As if the wounded knight was entranced, she stared deep into Archer’s eyes as he made his speech.

“I won’t let it go anymore. It’s in there. All the smiling faces. At that end. The small hopes. Even if it’s a worthless thing that might be better of disappearing, another person’s smile can be protected. You can be needed by another person. You can be wanted, and cried over. If it’s a worthless dream, then find it at the end. You just need to discover the meaning of the tears that fell, and the smiles that were there.”

“……”

“And then if there’s something you can protect, that’s enough of a reason to exist. I-”

He turned. Gently, with strength, towards his small masters-

“I’ll keep living with this dream. I’ll keep living for the things I can protect ahead. I don’t need the Holy Grail. I’ll always be able to grant this wish with my own hands.”

Together With House Husband, Part 3, Chapter 6.

At the end of a wish.

They set for to grant their feelings and desires. The journey was far too painful, and far too long. They were exhausted before they got there.

So many walls blocked their way, canyons stretching into infinity. No end in sight, no matter how much they climbed and climbed.

However, did the beautiful things they saw along the way have no value? Waiting at the end of the journey was an insurmountable cliff. Even if they stopped their, the road they had crossed, the mountain, their own feelings. The distance they had continued to trek- Were they all meaningless?

The man slowly descended the cliff. He believed there was a path to cross to the opposite shore, and so he moved forward. Even if all that lay ahead was Hell. Even if he had to cross through that Hell. He would encounter something. There would be something he could save.

The journey was so far, but his wish was close. It was always in his hands.

The mouths of everyone present opened in shock. The swordsman Saber and the bowman Archer. The strongest of Servants who had chosen the sword, and the one who essentially wielded the bow. The result of their contest should have been obvious. It should have been apparent who would be humbled in the dirt.

But, in the end, the one standing was the bowman. It was Archer.

“A… Archer!”

“Archer-san…!”

The silence broken, the first ones to move were his masters, Rin and Sakura. Their large eyes strained with worry, they looked at the person they loved. In their gaze, they saw Archer turn his face towards them, and make his usual cynical smile.

“…Ah.”

“…Oh…!”

The smile both loved calmed them.

He had finished the battle unwounded. He was within reach. And he had protected the promise. It all relieved them.

“Well then.”

Kanshou and Bakuya in hand, Archer turned towards Kiritsugu.

“Emiya Kiritsugu. This time I’ll have you discard those Command Spells.”

“……”

Kiritsugu silently extracted the Jericho from his pocket. But Archer’s eyes did not overlook the subtle tremble in his arms. Kiritsugu’s arms were not fully healed after all.

“…Give it up. From the previous battle and now, you should know you can’t win.”
“Shut up. If you want to stop me, kill me and be done with it. But… Don’t think you can do it so easily.”

“Damn…”

*Scrape*

He ground his teeth together. He had produced a result. Victory and defeat were clear. But, even so… He could not stop Kiritsugu. He could not stop the dream more precious than Kiritsugu’s own life.

Kiritsugu had often left young Shirou behind and journeyed. He had continued to pursue his dream almost to the verge of death, saving others while calling it an adventure. He had gone on until his own body was in ruin; even then, he had lived for the sake of others. He did not know just what had held him up for so long. But it was impossible for him to throw away the dream he had chased after for such a long time. He could not abandon his way.

Scraping his teeth together, he glared at Kiritsugu. Raising his trembling arm, Kiritsugu leveled a gun pointed at Archer. At that moment, the approach of battle drew near once again, and fires raged.

“…a…Uhh… Stop… Archer…”

An agonized moan resounded from the deck. It had come from the collapsed Saber. The direct hit from the dual blades had not severed Saber’s thread of life.

She twisted her body and raised her upper half. Her breastplate was completely destroyed, gruesome wounds stretched across her abdomen, her condition serious enough that a normal human body would now be immobile. She possessed astonishing regenerative ability, but the wounds she had received were nearly fatal. Full recovery would take tens of minutes.

But even unable to move, a lion was a lion. Even with blood flowing from her mouth, the strength in her eyes had not been extinguished; they stared in front of her, at the back of the victory.

“Agh… Why…”

“……”

“Why did you not finish me… and demand Kiritsugu relinquish his Command Spells? I am the loser, Archer. If you kill me, it will end here. Or… Are you mocking me?”

He had heard that question before. It was the same Kiritsugu, defeated, had thrown at Archer at the end of their battle. Overhearing Saber’s query, Kiritsugu also looked at Archer.

“Mocking you?”

He turned his head and gazed into her beautiful azure eyes. In them was hatred and doubt.

If the wish Saber had once desired at not changed, then perhaps the Holy Grail was everything for her now. Battle to obtain it was all. Even after destroying countless lives and dreams at the ends of strange lands, it was to grant the final wish hidden in her breast.

“Then- When I drew out the holy sword, it should have been a better king, one who could have saved their country, unlike me. …That’s why, if I can redo the selection of the king with the power of the Grail, I will return that time-”

Those were the words she had spoken that distant day. A desire to change her fate, and erase the Camlann stained with blood. To erase herself, and create a new king- a wish to destroy herself.

Her existence was no different than Archer’s until a short while ago. In despair at their results, and finally wishing for their own annihilation; she was exactly the same as Archer.

“…Mocking you, huh. Sorry, but I didn’t become a Heroic Spirit to kill people.”

“…? Surely you must be aware of the system of the Holy Grail War. We kill each other, battling until only one is left standing at the end. That is the Fuyuki Servant System; you must know that.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Exactly.”

Yes, he had gone into battle knowing that. Originally, the Holy Grail War itself had been pointless to him. But now he no longer sought the Grail for a different reason.

Further irritated by Archer’s attitude, his motives opaque, Saber seethed hatred, and spoke as if spitting out each word.

“Then, why did you challenge me to this battle? You have a wish you want granted. You have one you must have granted…! That’s why you were summoned, right? Or do you not desire the Holy Grail…!?”

Together With House Husband, Part 3, Chapter 5.

The end of the battle. The bowman who took up his swords once again to fulfill his promise is assailed by the words of the king of blades.

I don’t really even know at this point. Back when I was still active, Type-Moon translations were few and far between (they are to an extent still, but I’m very happy at having seen the community grow from the sidelines), and getting shit translated was hard as fuck.

Now, now the community has dedicated people to doing this, and me and YHK (my old translator) have long since retired (he had law school, I had the military and now I have college).

I dug up my old House-Husband stuff, and after comparing the source material I think I’ve made some nice touchups. I’ll post everything I have, so happy new year.

I figure from here on out, I’ll just use this blog to post translations for stuff I read and enjoy (no scanlations, I’m lazy like that) to help me along as I prep for my JLPT 2 and eventually JLPT 1 classes. I don’t really care if it’s been TL’ed or not, but chances are they probably wouldn’t be.